Having been in this situation many times before, I know how awful the feeling is. While I know that the news is upsetting, there are still a couple of things that you should keep in mind:
Companies Give Second Chances
Nearly all of the companies that rejected me gave me one or more opportunities after I failed. Microsoft interviewed me on-campus twice after I messed up my internship interview. Adobe granted me a second on-site interview after I flunked my initial on-site. Apple gave me numerous phone screen opportunities. IBM and Intel both ended up offering me internships after I had failed with them previously.
Companies are aware that the interview process is imperfect and that your results depend not only on your performance, but on a number of other factors that you have no control over. Plus, they know that you’re human and it’s possible that they didn’t catch you on your best day.
Another thing that I noticed is that companies might not even keep track of a candidates interview history. On numerous occasions, recruiters from places that I failed miserably with contacted me with new opportunities and were unaware that I had interviewed with them previously. One of my friends had three on-site interviews with Intel over a six month period. For each interview he was contacted by a separate recruiter who had no knowledge of his prior interviews. He ended up getting an offer in his third interview after having performed horribly during the first two.
Keep Things in Perspective
I know it hurts. I know you're depressed. And I know you're not going to want to hear this...but you'll live to see another day. Don't let your failure with one company define you as a person. You still have your family, you still have your friends, and you still have your health. Once you're done moping, keep pushing forward.
Moving Forward
Reevaluate Your Performance - After the dust settles, it's time to go back to the drawing board and find out what went wrong. Did you do enough preparation? Were you too nervous? Did you struggle with technical questions? Maybe you didn't do anything wrong and just got a raw deal. But it also might be possible that you have some weak areas that you need work on.
Ask for Feedback - Most companies won't do this, but it's still worth a shot. I once asked Cisco to give me feedback after I missed the cut for their associate systems engineer program. To my surprise, the recruiter spoke with me on the phone and told me about my interview evaluations and what my trouble areas were. This helped me to prepare for future interviews.
Write Down the Interview Questions - This is really important. After the interview, write down and find out the answers to all of the questions that you had trouble with. I guarantee that you'll be seeing these same questions again in later interviews.
Save the Recruiters Contact Information - Just because you didn't get the job, it doesn't mean that they weren't impressed with your performance. Store any e-mails or phone numbers that the recruiter used to get in touch with you and don't be shy about contacting them again in the future .
What's Next?
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